The Dark Equation
by FearlessRabbit
Summary: Eight years ago, the world was invaded but the Justice League fixed it because that's what they do or did. Three years ago, Darkseid and his para-demons invaded Earth and the Justice League died in their pursuit to save us. Now a rebel group called 'The Underground' fight against Darkseid and his commanders. Led by Nightwing, they will not back down until the Earth is free.
1. Chapter 1

Young Justice: The Dark Equation

Dick Grayson's Point of View

Somewhere Outside of Gotham

Three years ago today, the Justice League died. Scratch that, they were murdered by Darkseid and his para-demons. I lost my father and my mentor but the world lost something much more. With the death of the Justice League and the disappearance of Earth's Green Lanterns, John Stewart and Hal Jordan, Darkseid took over the world. The heroes and villains that weren't murdered by Darkseid have gone into hiding and some have even joined him as commanders and enforcers of his reign.

I am the leader of what is known as 'The Underground'. Back before the world went to hell, we were just called 'Young Justice' but seeing as the League is dead and we aren't so young anymore it didn't make sense. There aren't that many of us but that helps us stay off of the radar as much as possible.

My thoughts are silenced as I hear the unmistakable sound of unnaturally fast footsteps. There was a knock on the door and I say "Come in Wally." The door opened and no one other than Wally West walked inside the room. You see, Wally vanished into the speed-force a little over eight years ago but we thought that he was dead. Four years ago (Before Darkseid) Wally appeared in the area that he vanished from while stopping the MFD with Barry and Bart. He is considerably faster than when he vanished because he was absorbing speed-force while stuck in the tear.

Wally walks up to the desk that I am sitting at and says "Hey boss, you need to come see this." I stand up and walk out with him whilst grabbing my mask and sticking it to my face. We walk out to the debriefing room and go towards the central computer to see Babs sitting in her seat in front of the computer with a picture of Joker on the screen. Once we were standing beside her chair, she clicks the picture and a video started.

In downtown Gotham, there're about a dozen or so men in clown masks throwing Molotov cocktails at apartment buildings and businesses nearby. A brown haired woman runs by and gets a Molotov cocktail thrown at her too. It was gruesome, her screams loud enough to haunt your dreams. After she drops to ground dead, a very distinct laugh is heard as The Joker himself struts by in his violet suit, pulls out a gun and shoots the already dead lady twice. The video ends and Oracle rotates her chair to look at me and asks "What do you want to do?"

I look from Babs to the screen and I know that I can't leave that chaos unchecked. Six years ago, in an attempt to get revenge on the now-dead Commissioner Gordon, Joker showed up to Barbara's house (Unaware that she was Batgirl) and shot her. She has been paralyzed ever since but she is still fighting against evil by being Oracle, superhero tech support. "Have the team meet us here," I say while looking at the screen and staring at the picture of Joker. She nods and speaks into the speaker that connects to the whole base. "Important meeting at the debriefing room. Everyone to debrief immediately."

When she finished on the intercom I leaned down next to her and asked: "Are you okay Babs?" She smiled slightly at the use of her nickname and says "I'm fine Dick." I am not sure if I believe her but I drop it anyway after kissing her on the cheek to cheer her up.

Connor and Kara Kent (along with Krypto) were the first to walk in. After Clark died those three have been inseparable. Connor basically became best friends with her because he had no one left after Clark died, Lois vanished and Black Canary went into hiding somewhere. Not to mention the disappearance of Megan after La'gaan died.

Shortly after that, Roy Harper walked in. Roy ended up finally getting his mind right after meeting and befriending my brother Jason Todd aka Red Hood. Thankfully he no longer sees himself as just a clone and knows that he has to carry on Oliver's legacy being that the original Roy died whilst trying to assassinate Lex Luthor.

Donna Troy walked into the room and I could see that she looked annoyed at something. I also could see that Cassie wasn't with her. "Donna, where's Cassie?" I ask while looking around with the cameras. "Ask Robin. She's with him more than me." She says while dropping onto the couch. I shake my head in disappointment and use the comm channel that Robin and I have in our ear that allows us to contact members of the Bat-family. "Robin, where are you? Drake, you there?" I ask questions like these for about two minutes before someone answers but it's not Tim. "Nightwing? Do you need something?" Cassie asks through Tim's comm. "Yeah, I need you two to get outta bed and get to the debriefing room," I say while checking my watch. "Oh sorry. We'll be there in a moment."

Tim Drake and Cassie Sandsmark walk into the room next with Zatanna behind them. Zatanna looked at me and said, "Sorry, I was in the shower." I nodded and said, "Don't worry about it." I then looked at Tim and Cassie and ask "Why were you two late?" Cassie blushed and Tim smirked and asked: "Do you really want to know?" I just shake my head again and turn back to the screen.

"Play the video Oracle." I say while checking through the mini computer mounted on my wrist for recent Joker sightings. Once the video was finished the group was silent for a moment before Connor asked "Why is Darkseid letting this happen? He's letting Joker cause chaos in his 'Empire'?" I looked at Tim and decided that it was as good a moment as any to test him "Tim, why would Darkseid let Joker cause chaos?" Tim rubbed the back of his neck in thought and said: "By letting Joker and his gang cause mayhem, the people will think that they need Darkseid to keep them relatively safe from people like Joker." I smile and nod while saying "Good job. That's exactly correct, he's making them submit because they think they need him. People that still don't submit to Darkseid or his commanders end up hearing the anti-life equation." I looked at the group to see if there were any questions "Darkseid has spoken the equation over loudspeakers set up throughout the city. How come those three don't hear it?" Zatanna asked while gesturing over to Connor, Kara and Krypto. I picked up an earpiece and showed it to the group "Not only are we outside of the city, but this bunker is soundproofed and Tim and I made these to block out sounds that are a mile out. We're trying to design them to just block out Darkseid but that is not going so well being that we have no way to safely test it."

I was going to tell Connor and Kara more about it but I felt someone tap me on my right shoulder and when I look over I see Wally. "Don't you think we've gone off track a bit?" He asks and I nod. "Joker is based somewhere near the Gotham docks. Search the warehouses near the docks and find them. Joker won't be there most likely but the man who knows where he is will be." Oracle pulled up a picture of a caucasian man with blonde hair with pink streaks in it. I point to the man in the picture and start telling them about him. "Joker's second in command, Lee 'Giggles' Johnson. Thirty years old, had an obsession with The Joker as a child, has murdered at least two dozen people in the last year and he likes poodles. Any questions?" Cassie looked confused and asks "Second in command? Where's Harley Quinn?" "She was arrested along with the Joker five years ago but the people in charge decided that it was best to split them up. Joker was sent to Arkham Asylum and Harley was sent to Belle Reve in Louisiana. The last that I have heard of her was that she's back in the city somewhere."

"How are we supposed to find Giggles? The drones in the sky will shoot ours down and there are too many checkpoints to just drive there. It'd take about ten minutes to drive there and another ten to get back using shortcuts." Tim said while checking a map. Wally laughed and said "Twenty minutes? I can do it in two." I look at Wally because that run will be dangerous, even for him. Especially for him. "You sure about that Wally? I could send Connor with you. Connor, how's your speed coming along?" Connor looks at me and says "I'm pretty fast but he's still faster. We should go through the sewers so we won't be slowed down." Wally nods and they head for the door while picking up two earpieces "Send us the coordinates Oracle. Boss, what're we to do when we find Giggles?" Wally asked while putting on his goggles and specially made tennis shoes. "Bring him back here but don't be seen or at knockout anyone that does. Joker can not know that we're coming for him because he'll just move again."

They were walking out the door when Kara called them back and said: "Hurry back and stay safe." Wally was about to walk out of the door but turned around and said "Hurry back? We'll be back in a flash." And then they were gone.

The group was leaving the room and so was I but then Barbara pulled me back. I look at her confused and ask "What is it? You okay?" She nods her head yes and says "It's not about me. Remember what you had me look into a month ago? About your friend?" My eyes widen excitedly and I nod my head waiting for the news. She turns back to her computer and clicks out of the picture and pulls up the old Star Labs building. "I found him. They're keeping him in Star Labs." She pulled up a picture of my old friend from when I was still a kid. "Cyborg."


	2. Laughs and Giggles

Young Justice: The Dark Equation

Chapter 2: Laughs and Giggles

Wally West's Point of View

We drop down into the sewer and our coms ring and I answer "Oracle." Connor and I start to walk north and she says "Surveillance says that there are only about ten guys excluding Giggles guarding the warehouse. You are to get to Giggles unseen and find out where the Joker is and report back to base. If anything goes wrong contact us and we'll send backup. Any questions?" I think for a moment about any information we need and once I am positive that there is nothing else, I respond "No ma'am." Putting my goggles over my eyes and making sure my laces are tied tightly, I stretch a bit and once I hear "You guys are a go." I take off but not at my full speed so that Connor can keep up.

After about seven minutes of running, we arrive at a dead end that has a ladder going up to the streets. I know that it would be stupid to just go up without looking so I ask Connor to check with his x-ray vision. "It's clear." I climb the latter and open the grate to what appears to have once been a small shopping outlet. "It's another mile to the north before we hit the docks." Connor said whilst checking the street signs. I nodded at him and then we started running again.

We stop once we reach the docks and I tell Connor to stay low and stay quiet. There is a chain link gate surrounding the warehouses and we snuck up to it. "Cut out a hole with your heat vision." I instruct Connor with a whisper. He nods and then gives a small and quiet laser blast to the fence, cutting out the shape of a rectangle just big enough for us to get through. Taking surveillance of the area and I see that there is a guard on a watchtower looking over the warehouse. There are also two guards standing at the entrance to the warehouse but there is a backdoor with only one man guarding it.

We continue to sneak to the back door and the man looks at us and his eyes widen but before he can scream, Connor blew his breath in the man's face, encasing it in ice. I grab him as he starts to fall and hide him in a trash bin nearby. Connor looks over the warehouse and says "There are six men inside as expected. All are armed with assault rifles except one that has a shotgun. Chances are that it's Giggles." I nod and open the door, slipping inside quietly. Once inside, we realize that we're in a room separate from the rest of the warehouse. The room seems to be where they would put excess supplies.

The door to rest of the warehouse opened and a man walked into the room. Connor grabbed the man's neck and he passed out immediately from his strength. We dumped the body into a box that said "To Australia" and crept out the door to. The storage facility looked even bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, seemingly going for a mile. We were too busy looking around to notice that one of the guards had turned the corner of the box we were behind and saw us. "Hey! We got trespassers!" By the time he finished speaking, I was laying his body out on the floor. It was too late though as everyone had already heard him. I ran throughout the warehouse and snatched everyone's guns except for Giggles as he had locked himself in a room with a thick vault like steel door. I run back to Connor and the guards from both inside and outside started surrounding us. "There's no way you're getting out of here freaks!" One of the men said as he pulled out a pocket knife. I could see Connor's smirk when the man pulled out the knife and he said "This is going to be fun."

Connor ran at the man closest to us and grabbed him by the throat and threw him through the wall. I pivoted to my left and punched a guy in his ribs while using my super speed to increase the force of the punches. He fell to the floor and groaned and I just turned slightly to my right. When I turned, I saw a fist coming straight at my face so I ducked under the fist and swept the man's legs from under him and kicked him in the jaw to finish him. "Ahhh!" Screamed a man as he was thrown across the room by Connor. The unmistakable sound of bones snapping was clearly heard the moment the man hit the wall. I ran to one of three remaining goons and punched him in the nose and then in the stomach causing him to double over, I kicked him in the face and sent him flying back. I turned around to fight the other two when I saw them falling to the floor with burns in their chests. "They're not dead, so relax." Connor said when I tensed up.

We walk over to the steel door and Connor tries to cut the steel door off with his heat vision but it wouldn't give. "Damn it. Still not as powerful as Superman." I nod in sympathy because I know that that always eats him up. The thought of not being good enough haunts all of us but Dick gets the worst of it.

I look at the wall and see a panel for putting in the code to unlock the door. I start to vibrate my hand like Barry used to do and stick it into the panel. The door loosened up and opened a bit and Connor ripped the door off and threw it to the side. We walk in and see Giggles holding a pump shotgun and aiming it between Connor and I. "Stay back you freaks!" Connor stepped forward and Giggles actually shot him. We were both surprised and looked down at the flattened shells on the floor. I actually laugh and say "You messed up pal." Connor grabbed him by the throat after ripping the gun apart and pushed him into the wall. "Where's Joker?" He all but growled as he slammed him back against the wall. Giggles groaned but laughed after and said "Closer than you think, freak." Wait… What's that supposed to mean? "He's on his way with backup and lots of it. He's even got a kryptonite pie made just for you." Connor dropped Giggles on the floor and backed away from him. Giggles stood up and laughed again whilst saying "Yep, that's right. He knows exactly who you are. Kid Flash and Superboy. No more hiding in the dark. Tell me, where's Nightwing? The boss will be happy for a family reunion."

Giggles looks at a monitor on the desk and says "Looks like they're here." I look at the monitor and see about twenty to twenty-five clowns being led by Joker and marching straight to the warehouse. "The sewers are filled with our guys as well. You've got nowhere to go." I look around and know that the building is surrounded by clowns. "Connor we need to move. Now." I say and he nods, probably having seen them with his x-ray vision.

The wall behind Giggles exploded with the force of Connor's heat vision and we both ran. I don't even know where we're running towards because the sounds of bullets and manic cackling that could only belong to one certain clown made me lose focus a bit.

After what seemed like hours of running and we were in a building that seemed to have once been an apartment building. We run into one of the apartments on the third floor and while Connor checks the rest of the apartment for any supplies, I call Oracle.

"Wally? You completed the mission yet?" I shake my head no even though she can't see me and after I hear her repeat my name concern evident in her voice, I reply. "No Barbs, we didn't. The mission went really bad and now we're holed up in some apartment building." I run my hands through my sweat dampened hair and notice that my hands are vibrating from shaking so fast. "Calm down Wally. Are either of you hurt?" Barbara asks with her mother like caring voice. "No… No, we're fine. The clowns are in the sewers, though, so we can't get back. They also know who we are now. It's only a matter of time before Darkseid finds out and comes after us."

At that moment, Connor came out of one of the bedrooms and tossed me a red and yellow backpack whilst wearing a red and black one himself. "Don't worry about that right now Wally. What's important is keeping you two safe. Give me a moment while I look for safe houses in the area… Okay here we go, the closest one is an old Birds of Prey safe house. I'll contact Huntress and tell her that you're coming. Oracle out."

I look through the backpack and see that there is water, a flashlight, a walkie-talkie, and a roll of duct tape. "Make sure there isn't anything else worth taking. We have to fly under the radar, so cover up that shirt." I tell Connor as I grab the fire axe from the fire safety kit in the kitchen. A rotten smell of spoilt cheese and milk emanates from the fridge and makes my nose twist in disgust. Opening the pantries to search for food that hasn't been ruined, I find two cans of beans and some chicken noodle soup. I grab the beans and put them in my bag.

Connor walks out from the bedroom that he was in and he is wearing a black biker jacket with a black tee shirt. He throws me a red baseball hat and I wordlessly put it on and shove my goggles into the bag. "Let's go, Connor. The more time we spend here, the bigger chance the clowns could close in. We're headed to an old Birds hideout. Don't use any powers or else Darkseid could hear of where we are." Connor nods and I notice that he has barely said a word since we've been out. "Connor, you okay? You haven't spoken a word." He looks at me for a moment before putting on some blacked out shades. "Earlier… It just reminded me that we're not as powerful as our mentors. How in the hell are we supposed to defeat Darkseid if they couldn't?" I smile sadly because I know that this is a major part of both Connor and Dick's confidence issues and I am not the best speech giver so I try to lighten it up. "Hey speak for the rest of you, I am faster than Barry ever was." Connor gave a small but fake smile so I try another approach. "Look Connor… No, we're not as good as them but we can learn from their mistakes. They were great but they tried to directly go after Darkseid. The Lanterns disappeared and Hawkman betrayed us after Hawkgirl died, Cyborg was captured and all of the JSA are dead as well. Yeah, we've taken hits but we'll get back up and hit harder. With Dick leading us, we can't fail. We won't fall. But maybe we will but if I do, I am taking Darkseid and all of his commanders down with me. For the League."

Connor smiled and said "For the League." I'm glad that he is out of his funk because that feeling of inadequacy would just lead to worthlessness and then self-hate. That would probably lead to us all getting killed somehow. I don't want to die and leave the world to Darkseid. We're all that's left of the heroes willing to fight and that makes it our responsibility to try.

We walk out of the door and head downstairs to the entrance of the apartment building. We leave after taking a breath to calm down the anxiety of being out here with clowns looking for us and Darkseid's lackeys possibly finding out about us as well.

I step through the broken glass of what used to be an automatic door to the mall that I would hang out in whenever I was in Gotham with Dick. I was walking up the old escalator (Now stairs due to the power being off) when I heard Connor groan and ask "Where is the food court? I'm hungry." I roll my eyes because my metabolism is way faster than his but he's been complaining the whole time. "There's nothing in the food court that would have lasted. You would have something to eat if you hadn't spilled both cans of baked beans." Connor sighed but didn't say anything else and I kind of felt bad so I tried to remember all of the old stores. "There used to be a little shop that sold different types of nuts. Let's go see if it hasn't been picked clean."

The store is boarded up so after making sure that we were completely alone, Connor ripped the door off. "Holy shit." Connor blurted out as we entered the store and boy is he right. The store looks untouched and there are nuts of every type: Peanuts to Pistachios and Walnuts to Pecans. Looking around, I notice what appears to be my favorite nut ever… Cashews. "They have cashews. These things were my favorite!" I open my backpack and start shoving bags of the roasted cashews into my bag. When I turn and see Connor shoving peanuts into his bag, I just have to give him a bag of the cashews. "Connor, you have to take at least one of these. These are the best in the store." He just nods and takes two off of the shelf and takes two bags of peanuts out. He throws one of the peanut bags towards me and I catch it and we board the store back up by using a shelf. "I may run back here one day." Connor says as we finish blocking the door and I say "Yeah, we could live off this place for months."

Crash!

"Guys, come on! Harold said he saw the freaks come through here!" A male voice shouted and I looked at Connor and whispered "How many are there?" He started looking around and said "Five; three downstairs and two more coming through the door." I nod and wave my hand in a 'follow me' motion as I crouch down and start sneaking towards the Macy's.

Well, that plan was ruined the second I heard a man scream "Hey! They're over here!" The man started running towards us with a crowbar (Seriously?) but before he could reach us, Connor used his freeze breath to encase the man's legs. Another man walked up the stairs and started shooting at us with a shotgun. I ran and grabbed the shotgun from his hands before he could do anything else and used the butt of the gun to knock the man out.

"Connor, let's go. We've already revealed ourselves. We need to disappear." So we ran. We ran out of the mall as fast as we could (As fast as Connor could) and ran towards the shack that's supposedly going to be safe from Joker and Darkseid.

We arrive at the shack in just half a minute (It was only three miles from the mall) and I knock on the door about twenty times before someone finally opens it. "Jesus, Wally you don't have to be so excited to see me. Dick probably wouldn't like that you're at my place this late at night either." Is the immediate answer when Helena Bertinelli opened the door with a smirk on her face. Connor and I just stare at her because she is seriously making jokes in a time like this. "Tough crowd." She says as she stands to the side to let us in.

"Thank you, Helena." I say as I call Oracle through our radio channel. "Oracle, we're safe." I can hear her typing through the radio and she says "Okay, Joker seems to have moved on towards West Gotham. Lay low for a few days and then come back here. Oracle out."

Connor was searching through the shack while I was speaking to Oracle and when he emerged from the final room, he had a frown on his face. "Where's Dinah?" He asked Helena impatiently. "She went on a scavenging run." Connor looked around and asked "By herself?" Helena nodded and said "Yeah. So what?" Connor seemed angry at that and asked "Where'd she go?" Helena rolled her eyes and replied "She can take care of herself. She is the one who taught you how to fight." Connor just glared back and she huffed in return "Somewhere downtown." Connor understandably grew outraged at that and roared "You let her go downtown by herself!" But before Helena could retort, Connor stormed off and seemingly went to find Dinah.

I stayed though because I know that Connor wants to find her on his own. When Connor slams the door, Helena turns to me and asks "So… Wanna play poker?"

"My lord, the meta-humans seemed to have come from the sewers. They also fled towards the old outskirts. What do we do?" A man with a bald head and an omega symbol branded onto his left cheek. "The sewers? Yes, of course… Head downtown and spread the word. Ten-thousand credits for each of these superheroes they find and kill. Fifty-thousand credits go to the person that can kill or capture their leader… Superboy."

The man with the mark bows down and says "Yes lord Darkseid." He stalks away to spread the message. While walking out he passes by Blockbuster, Darkseid's lapdog and says "Search the sewers. Find this rebellion and crush them where they stand." Blockbuster nods and leaves the fortress that was once Wayne Manor.

Author's Note: And there we go! Sorry that it took so long to update; I have been planning the upcoming chapters for this story so that I'll know where I'm headed with this. Now for replies to your reviews.

DarkInvader: Thanks for the support and I will keep up with this and my Star Wars stories.

Twilight rasengan: Longer chapters are definitely going to be happening as you saw with this one. Connor's powers have been evolving into more Superman-ish (Powered by the Yellow sun) so he will get more powers as the story goes on. You'll have to wait and see for flying though because I'm not sure about that one. Barbara Gordon is not Batgirl anymore but others might come into play later.

Anon: Umm… Thanks?

Thanks for all of the reviews. I promise that I will try to update more often as I am starting a new schedule starting next week where I write every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and will put it up on Saturday. Follow me on Tumblr: FearlessRabbit. On there I will post one-shots for different things, talk about my upcoming stories and more. Bye guys and have a good one.


	3. On The Run

Young Justice: The Dark Equation

Chapter 3: On The Run

Conner Kent's Point of View

A cold breeze passes over me and I can feel my skin getting goose bumps as I walk down the sidewalk of what was once Downtown Gotham. I pass by three dirty looking men gathered by a trashcan fire and stand next to them while warming my hands over the fire. One of the men, an Asian man with dirty clothes, stares at me for a second too long and I become uneasy. He looks down at the fire before retracting his hands from it and stuffing them into his pockets and then looking behind himself at something. The words he said next felt like they shattered my whole world, and they did. "Anyone ever tell you that you look exactly like Superman?"

The other two men looked up at me and as recognition crossed their features, their eyes narrowed and the Asian man that called the attention to me in the first place was now brandishing a shiv. "Put the knife down and I won't hurt you." The man simply took up a fighting position in reply, so I kicked the fire barrel into the man's chest, knocking him down. One of the remaining two men, a white man with dirty blonde hair, came at me with a lead pipe and swung it towards my head. I ducked under the weapon and blew my breath onto his arm that was holding the pipe, freezing the extremity in place. I kick the man in the knee and as his bone snaps, I use my heat vision on the final man that was about to run at me.

The man that I had shot with my heat vision was groveling on the floor as he tried to snuff out the flames. "Here, let me help you." I blow my freeze breath onto the man, encasing him in ice. Shit… I wasn't supposed to use my powers in public.

"Oh my God!" At the sound of the unknown voice, I turn around and see a young boy staring at me slack jawed and wide eyed. Damn it, he saw me! How in the hell do I get out of this? "You're Superman!" The kid basically shouts and I let out a strangled "Huh?" The kid runs over to me and grabs my hand, "Come on, my family needs to see you. They gave up, but I never did! I knew the Justice League would save us!" How am I supposed to tell this kid that I am not Superman? That Superman and the other Leaguers are dead? I can't do that… When I was younger I could have told him with no problem but not now.

"Yeah… Let's go kid." I say with a twinge of guilt. This kid has put faith in me and I can't tear that away from him. I guess that I will have to pretend to be Superman, for him not because I want to. Because I don't want to, seriously… Anyway

The kid pulls my hand and starts walking towards a building that used to be an apartment complex. He bursts through the door and excitedly whispers "This way." As we take a corner and start walking up the staircase. After climbing two flights of stairs, we reach what seems to be his apartment. "This is my family's apartment." He needlessly explains as he finishes knocking on apartment '52'. A woman in her early forties opens the door and gasps when she sees me and the boy. "Frankie! Where have you been? We have been worried sick about you!" She ushers us inside and Frankie huffs and says "I went for a walk, auntie. But look at who I found!" The lady looks at me and then back at Frankie. "It's Superman!" She looks surprised but then blinks her eyes and grabs Frankie's hand and pulls him toward her. "Superman is dead, boy. This is an imposter!" Frankie shakes his head back and forth and I smell the tears in his eyes. "He is Superman!" He looks at me and yells "Prove it to her! You're Superman."

Damn it… how will I prove that? I can't fly… But I do have heat vision. I look around the room and see an old soccer ball. I walk over to it and pick it up, I freeze the ball with my breath and then shoot it with my heat vision. Her eyes widen as the ball explodes into shards. "Candice!" The lady calls and then a slightly younger female with blonde hair walks out of the hallway. "Yes, 'Nessa?" She asks as she comes into the room. "Frankie! You're back. Don't you dare take off on your own ever again, you hear?" She says as she yanks the boy into her arms. "Yes, mom." The boy states as he pushes out of her arms to point back at me. "I found Superman, though!" The woman, Candice, looks at me and then at 'Nessa', who nods before gesturing towards the ice shards on the floor. "Oh my God… Where have you been? In fact, where is Batman? He was supposed to protect us!" Shit… Of course, people would be angry at Superman and Batman. Why hadn't I thought of that? "We've been taking the fight to Darkseid for months now. Stealing from the system, breaking down their machine. We faked our deaths after he beat us and hid in the sewers to recover from our wounds. There's not many of us left." I explain what has to be one of the most well put together lies ever.

She seems to think about that for a moment before asking more questions. "Is Batman still around?" Of course, they would want to know about Batman. "Yeah, he is," I respond after thinking for a second. Sorry Dick, but you are going to have to be the Bat for a moment. "Who else?" She asks after letting out a satisfied breath. "Other than Batman and I, there is Wonder Woman, The Flash, Zatanna, The Black Canary, and Red Arrow. Red Robin, Wonder Girl, and Supergirl are also here. Oh and so is the Huntress." She nods and asks "That's it? God, how many has Darkseid killed?" I nod solemnly and respond "Too many."

I truly hope that this doesn't backfire on us somehow. "Don't worry. Just stay safe and the Justice League will take Earth back and drive Darkseid back to Apokolips." She smiles and nods happily as tears leave her eyes. "I have to go. Black Canary is somewhere downtown and I have to find her. Goodbye." I say as I realize the reason I came down here in the first place. "Bye Superman!" The kid says as I walk through the door. I give a two-fingered salute before walking out onto the street.

Now to find Dinah. Where could she be? If she went to look for supplies and wanted to avoid Darkseid, she would've gone towards the Steel Mill area. Gangs and other undesirables crowd that area, though. She's probably in trouble! I open up my comms system and send a call to Oracle. "Oracle, I need the maps to the Gotham City sewer system. I need a clear path to the Steel Mill." She hums in response and I hear the clicking of her keyboard. "There you go, big guy. Stay safe Conner, there is a reason people don't go there. Hell, even before Darkseid, people stayed away." I nod even though she can't see it. "Sure, Barb. I'll be safe. Superman out." Before she can respond to me calling myself Superman, I turn off the earpiece and rip the manhole cover out of the ground and throw it at one of the goons across the street that were getting back up, knocking him out.

I've been walking for about twenty minutes and based off of the map Oracle sent me, I should be in the Steel Mill soon. "Damn it, this is a waste." Who said that? I start looking around with my infrared vision to find the suspect and I see three men searching for something about forty feet ahead of me. I crouch down and use the corner of a wall as cover. "The rebels aren't down here. Who would go in a sewer and decide to live there? No one, that's who!" The same annoying squeaky voice says in an obvious New Jersey accent before looking at his two allies. A much deeper voice than the one before scoffs and says "Okay Mikey. How 'bout you go tell that to Luthor and see what he does to ya?" The group goes silent before the man called Mikey grumbles "Just keep looking."

The men continue to search and I was going to attack but I decided to not engage in a combat that could possibly show Darkseid the direction we are hiding in. The men pass by without seeing me and I sneak forward while making sure not to step on something that could make a noise and draw their attention. Dick trained the rest of us in basic stealth tactics so that we could not be spotted. We still aren't as good as him and Tim though.

I continue to move before reaching a dead end and a ladder. I send a call to Oracle for more instructions. "Oracle, once I go up here, I will need you to give me a ping on Dinah's location." She just gives an 'Uh-huh' and I hear more typing and clicking. "She is at… The old toy factory? Oh God." I can't help but laugh at her concern over Dinah being at a toy factory. "What? Afraid she'll get attacked by killer teddy bears?" I chuckle some more before Oracle brings me back by clearing her throat. "I wish it were killer teddy bears. The toy factory was Bane's old hangout and we have no idea where he is. He's most likely still there." Bane? I remember having a run-in with him back in our first year as a team. If she's there with him… I swear to God if he has hurt her. "Alright, I am on my way there," I say as I start to climb the ladder after lifting the manhole cover. Once I surface, I slide the cover back into place and start heading west towards the toy factory.

"Bane said to stay here and guard the place until he gets back. Make sure the puta doesn't escape. He's going to deal with her." A man with a Mexican accent says as him and three other armed goons walk out of the toy factory. "Why aren't we allowed to have fun with her?" One of the others say and I can feel my blood boil. "Because Bane said so and you listen to the boss no matter what… Once Bane is done with her, though, haha, she's all ours." Okay, these freaks aren't going to walk ever again once I am through with them.

I jump from behind the wall and the goons turn to look at me with surprise. "How 'bout we have fun first?" I ask as the men stumble at the red glow of my eyes before shooting the second one with my heat vision. "What in Dante's inferno was that?" The first guy asks before the third screamed "It's Superman! Why in hell aren't you dead and why are you in Gotham?" I stomp towards the man and grumble "Long story." Before grabbing the man by his throat and throwing him into the wall of the factory. He slumps over and I laugh as his friend tries to punch me in the back after wasting his bullets on me. "Yeah, bullets didn't work. Try your fists." I head-butt the man, knocking him out, before trudging towards the door of the factory.

I kick it down and walk in to find Dinah tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth. Relief floods her features when she sees that it's just me. I pull the gag out of her mouth before using my heat vision to cut the ropes. "Hey, Conner. Am I glad to see you." She says before hugging me and saying thank you. "Glad to see you too, Dinah. But we need to go, now. Bane is on his way." I hear a deep chuckling and I turn around to see the massive man known as Bane standing in the doorway with two new goons. "Already here, nino." Canary steps in front of me and points a finger at Bane before saying "You had me tied to that chair. I owe you one for that." Bane laughs again before saying "I'm waiting on it, bruja."

The goons raise their guns and start shooting. I realized what was going on, so I grabbed Dinah and turned my back to the men so that she wouldn't get hit. The men's guns have run out of ammo and Dinah whispers "Cover your ears." The moment I plug my ears, she lets out a canary cry that disorients the men and they fall over and go into a fetus position. The earpiece that I am wearing took the brunt of the damage but I still hear a little of the cry and my ears start ringing a little. "If you want something done right…" Bane says before activating the Titan packs on his back and growing to about nine feet tall and three hundred pounds of muscle. "You do it yourself!" He shouts before charging at us.

I push Dinah out of the way before being pummeled into the wall by Bane. He starts to punch me and it actually hurts a little and yeah he's strong, but I am stronger. I catch his massive right hook in my left hand before giving him a straight shot with my right. He flew into the ceiling and when he came back down, I dropkicked him. Canary came in through the door and gave out another canary cry that made Bane fall to his knees. He stood up and started walking towards Dinah, so I jumped onto his back and started punching him in the back of the head. "Get off of me!" Bane screams as he pulls me off of his back and throws me out of the building and onto the street.

"Ow." I groan as I stand up with the help of a car. I pick the car up and I jump back into the toy factory. Bane is stalking towards Dinah when I throw the car into his chest, knocking him through the wall. "Canary, let's end this!" I shout before jumping through the hole I smashed and into the other side of the factory.

I scan the room and come up empty. "Where are you?" I whisper as I move around the dozens of conveyor belts while looking for my target. "I'm right here!" Bane says as he pulls himself out of crater after tossing the car back at me. On instinct, I shoot the car with my heat vision and it explodes and causes both of us to be tossed in opposite directions. My head hits the stainless steel counter and I have never been more glad to be Kryptonian because I don't want to have to deal with a headache. I stand back up and Canary orders "Maneuver eleven!" I nod and run towards her before picking her up and throwing her towards Bane. While in the air, she lets out am an explosive canary cry that sends Bane through the wall and into the harbor. She backflips and lands on her feet before taking a breath.

"Good job, Conner. Thanks again for coming. I expected Helena to come but apparently, she was busy." I laugh and gesture towards outside "Let's go. Wally is with Helena back at your hideout." She nods and starts to walk behind me.

I lift the sewer grate and mock bow "After you." She laughs and says "What a gentleman." She drops into the sewer and I go in after her. We laugh and joke around with each other and it makes me miss the old days. I'm glad that I get to see Dinah again, I haven't seen her in over three months. I've missed her.

The Superman lifts up the sewer grate and I see the two laugh. I pull out my rifle and shoot the Canary with a tracker that sticks to the side of her leather jacket. The two drop into the sewers and I call Lex Luthor on the radio. "Luthor, they've dropped into the sewers. Tracker is active." I can hear him chuckle as he hears the news. "Thank you, Lawton. The money has been transferred to your account… I'll contact you if I need you again, Luthor out."

I look at the grate and turn to my left and see a man with a fifty-thousand-dollar contract on his head. "Well, I might as well finish two contracts at once." I line up my scope with the man's forehead and squeeze the trigger. He falls back after his head gets blown off by my sniper round. "Never miss."

We've been walking back through the sewers for ten minutes before I finally hear the beeping coming from Canary. "Dinah… What's that?" I ask while looking at her jacket. "What?" She asks before I make a 'quiet' gesture and then she hears the beeping as well. "She picks the smalls disc off of her jacket and examines it. "It's a tracker. Shit… We need to go in random directions before going away from the hideout." I nod my head as she puts the tracker back onto her jacket. "Act natural." She mouths as we keep walking. "Should I radio Oracle? Let her know what's going on?" She seems to think for a moment before nodding yes. "Oracle, come in," I speak into my comm unit. "Oracle here. What d'ya need?" I look at Dinah and then around the sewer. "We're being tracked. We'll be moving out to divert attention from the base. I have no idea when I will get back. Dinah and I will be moving east, towards Bludhaven." There is a sigh on the other end and I hear her say "Alright, stay safe. Make sure you stay together and watch each other's backs. Oh and Dick heard about how you're going by Superman now, haha, he has some words for you. But we'll wait until you get back, haha, Oracle out." I already know that I have a horrified expression on my face because Dinah starts laughing before heading towards Bludhaven.

"Let's go, Conner. I have a place in Bludhaven, we can lie low there." I nod and start following her. We're a long way from Bludhaven and I want to arrive as fast as possible. "This is going to be a long trip."

We reach an intersection and I look at my map to see that we are at Bludhaven's city limits. "Here we are. Let's climb up and get to my safe house. It's an old house that Dick used as a meetup for the Outsiders." Dinah says as she starts to climb up the ladder and pushes the sewer grate up. Why in the hell are we using old team hideouts? Darkseid could be monitoring that place, waiting for someone to show up again. She seems to see the unease on my face and explains "Metamorpho, Black Lightning, and Geo-Force are all dead. Looker and Halo have disappeared as well but they are probably in hiding. Katana was in Belle Reve, last I heard. No one will be there, it's safe."

We reach the house and I scan the place with my infrared vision to check for traps before noticing a lone figure in the building. Upon further examination, I determine that the person is a female in her early twenties. "There's a girl in here," I tell Dinah before opening the door quietly and sneaking in. "Maybe Looker came back… Or Halo." Dinah whispers as we sneak up the stairs and into the room where the girl is located.

The step creeks as my foot hit it and the girl turns around and throws knives towards us. "Get out of here!" The girl yells before jumping over the bar countertop and tossing a bomb at us. The moment it lands at my feet, I freeze it with my breath and use it as a cannonball by throwing it back at her. The frozen bomb goes through the counter, but it doesn't hit her. "Who are you people?" The girl yells again as she tosses a flashbang over the counter. I stand from behind the corner and inhale a lot of air before blowing it all out and forcing the banger back towards the girl.

I slide behind the couch and use it as cover as Dinah does the same. "What are you doing here?" Dinah calls before using a canary cry to shatter the glass cup that the girl threw at her. "This is my home." The girl shouts with her eyes closed from the flash that is still affecting her eyes. "No, it's not! This is a League safe house. You are an intruder." Dinah shouts at the girl as I stand from behind the couch and use my heat vision to slice off an edge of the counter so that Dinah could get a better angle to take her down without seriously maiming her.

The girl screams and says "Stop! Please stop!" I stop my attack and the room goes quiet as the girl stands up, revealing her long blonde hair and her black and purple hoodie. "Wait! You're Superboy and you're Black Canary… I thought that you guys were dead." Dinah smirked at that and said, "Don't kill us off so soon." The girl looked apologetic and I could hear her heartbeat practically double. She feels genuinely bad. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to invade you guys' space or anything. I'll leave if you want." Okay… Now I feel bad. I let out a sigh and say "You can stay. Can't leave helpless little girls unprotected, now can we?" I say with a smirk as I hop over the couch and sit down.

The young blonde scowls and glares daggers at me "One, I am not helpless. I have survived on my own my whole life, before and after Darkseid. Two, I am not little, I am twenty-one." I just chuckle and respond "Whatever you say." She rolls her eyes at me and looks at Dinah. "What are you guys doing here, anyway?" Dinah shakes her head and mutters "Long story." Dinah looks at the girl and asks "Who are you, by the way?"

The girl smiles and reaches out her hand for Dinah to shake. "My name is Stephanie Brown."

 _ **Author's Note**_ : Hey guys, sorry this took so long to get out. But, good news, I have made an outline for every chapter of this story and I should be able to get out a chapter every week until August. This story should be done by September at the most. There are seventeen more chapters, plus an epilogue (so technically eighteen). Next chapter should be way more action packed because that is when the group will go after Darkseid's Regime. Also, no, I haven't forgotten about Artemis or Kaldur. They're not dead, by the way.

Just in case you wanted to know, here is a list of ages for the characters.

Tim Drake and Cassie Sandsmark are 22

Kara Kent is 24

Barbara Gordon is 26

Dick Grayson, Donna Troy, and Zatanna are 27

Wally West is 28

Conner Kent is 30 (If you say that he is 16 in season one and not 3 months)

Dinah Lance is 37

P.S: Sorry for misspelling Conner Kent's name Connor!


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